Category Archives: The Parts of Speech

A couple years ago I did a little series on the spiritual aspects of the parts of speech. It generated a lot of visits and discussions. It was also one of my favorites to write. Today I am reposting Part III, Adjectives. I hope you like it. Let me know, as poetically as you can. If you want to read the rest of this series, look in the category archives on the left side of this page for the category, The Parts of Speech.

Peace,

Joseph

The Spiritual Aspects

Of the Parts of Speech,

Part III: Adjectives

By

Joseph Anthony

Adjectives are thepaintingwords in our language. You could
say,the lion, and that
would technically be a complete sentence, but why not say what the lion is
doing?—The lion roars. Next, imagine what the lion looks like:The golden lion roars. Or,
The wild-eyed, golden-maned lion roars with the roar of creation. The
sentences with the adjectives are more interesting. They give you a
better picture. You could say,the
flower grows, or,the
dew-dappled, red rose grows. See what I mean?

Our handy online etymology dictionary says that the origins for
the wordadjective meanto add toorthrow
near. What words do you add to the names of things? Do you
throw in swear words? Do you add pet-phrases that somehow describe what
you are saying? Are the describing words you use mostly of a visual
nature? Do you speak in generalities or can you be specific?

Reflect on the nature of adjectives. Really play with
them, for adjectives make the creation alive and interesting—they are the
painters and poets of our language. They are creators and
catalysts. Imagine, for example, what color God is. What color is
His/Her hair? Reflect on the colors of emotions. What color is
pain? What color is joy? Reflect
on the sounds you listen to. Which sounds do you love? Which sounds
are grating? Reflect on the textures of things. Do you prefer soft
clothes or rough? Hold someone’s hand today, a friend, spouse, or a
child, and describe what that is like—both the feel of their hand and the
feeling that act brings to your heart. Reflect on the colors you see in a
given day—or do you see them? Is your life grey and covered in
dust? If so, do a cleaning and get out the paint brushes of adjectives
and color your world with beautiful descriptions. Reflect on the
qualities that describe the Divine. And let’s not forget about the sense
of smell. Reflect on the kinds of smells you love. Describe
them. What does heaven smell like? What does love smell like? Try
to use adjectives in every sentence you say today—try and use all the senses
too. Even if it sounds outrageous and silly—talk like an eccentric
poet. Have fun and play with adjectives.

In a nutshell, pronouns take the place of nouns. He, she, it, him, her, them, they, we, you or I are all pronouns. In addition, pronouns have several special powers that other parts of speech do not have. Pronouns can possess things—yours, mine, theirs, his, hers. They can demonstrate things, like “This is the color I want.” That and these are also pronouns. And finally, pronouns can interrogate–they can ask questions: who, what, where, when, whom, are all pronouns. Other words like everyone, many, or everything, are also pronouns.

The two most commonly used pronouns are you and I, with I being perhaps the most often used. In fact, it is a defining moment in the life of a child when they suddenly, for the first time, use the word I. It’s significant, because for a while, little children experience themselves as being one with everything. Not only that, but they will often refer to themselves by their own name: “Billy wants a cupcake,” Billy might say about himself, or “Sally wants to go to the library,” Sally might say about herself. So when a child begins saying the word I he or she will soon be saying it a million times a day.

I remember when our second son came running around the hallway corner one day when he was about three. As he came by he grabbed the wall to stop himself. And as he did, he stopped just long enough to look up at me and shout: “I!”—And then he was off again running, happily shouting, “I! I!” From that day forward the word I has been a part of his everyday vocabulary.

Today, reflect on the two most popular pronouns you and I. Practice saying you more often today than I or my. Practice thinking about someone else today more than I, me, my, and mine. Reflect on the significance of you and I—how they go together so naturally, so necessarily. Reflect on the Ubuntu saying, “I am because you are.” And if you still have room for more after all that reflecting, try writing a poem about yourself without using the words I, me, my, or mine. Try writing a poem about someone you love without using the words you or I. Finally, try writing a prayer to the God (or Goddess) of your understanding without using either you or I.

And just for fun, let’s end the post with a video from Schoolhouse Rocks! Cheers!

Welcome back, Dear Readers. Today we will be taking a look at the spiritual aspects of adverbs.

Adverbs

Recall what we said yesterday about verbs. Recall that they are the doing words. Recall how we are active, vital beings—always doing. Now let’s go a little deeper.

How do you do what you do?

Adverbs are the adjectives of verbs. You could say, I walked to work. Or, I walked happily to work. You could say, He took my hand. Or, He gently took my hand. Adverbs usually end in “ly,” but not always. And not all “ly” words are adverbs, but as a general rule, that’s the scoop.

Reflect on how you do things today. Do you speak slowly, quickly, softly, loudly, or kindly? Do you walk swiftly, slowly, gently? How do you grasp things at the dinner table? Gracefully? Hungrily? Do you listen carefully or carelessly? Do you listen attentively and compassionately or judgmentally? How do you eat? Do you eat slowly, savoring every bite? Or ravishingly, barely tasting anything? Do you react patiently or violently to a traffic jam? Does it depend? How do you pray? Trustfully, gratefully, or frighteningly and bitterly? How do you remember the past? Bitterly or joyfully? Both? Reflect on how you do what you. This is very beneficial. It will help you and those around you live more peacefully and consciously

As a fun game, gather a few friends around or a bunch of kids aged 8 and up and play the following game:

In the Manner of the Word

Brainstorm all of the adverbs you can think of and write them down so everyone can see them. Then pick someone to step out of the room and have the rest of you quietly pick an adverb from the list that you all can agree on. Then have the person who stepped out come back in. Then he or she gets to give the rest of you acting directions like: “Walk in the manner of the word; read a book in the manner of the word, brush your teeth in the manner of the word.” And so on. And you have to act out the directions. You can all act the directions out together, at the same time, or the person can pick one of you to act it out individually. The object is for the person making all of you do those silly acting things to try and guess which adverb it is that you picked while he or she was out of the room. It’s a hilarious game. Have fun.

Adjectives are the painting words in our language. You could say, The lion., and that would technically be a complete sentence, but why not say what the lion is doing?—The lion roared. Next, imagine what the lion looks like: The golden lion roared. Or, The wild-eyed, golden-maned lion roared. The sentences with the adjectives are more interesting. They give you a better picture. You could say, The flower grows. Or, The beautiful red rose grows. See what I mean?

Our handy online etymology dictionary says that the origins for the word adjective mean to add to or throw near. What words do you add to the names of things? Do you throw in swear words? Do you add pet-phrases that somehow describe what you are saying? Are the describing words you use mostly of a visual nature? Do you speak in generalities or can you be specific?

Reflect on the nature of adjectives. Really play with them, for adjectives make the creation alive and interesting—they are the painters and poets of our language. They are creators and catalysts. Imagine, for example, what color God is. What color is His/Her hair? Reflect on the colors of emotions. What color is pain? Reflect on the sounds you listen to. Which sounds do you love? Which sounds are grating? Reflect on the textures of things. Do you prefer soft clothes or rough? Hold someone’s hand today, a friend, spouse, or a child, and describe what that is like—both the feel of their hand and the feeling that act brings to your heart. Reflect on the colors you see in a given day—or do you see them? Is your life grey and covered in dust? If so, do a cleaning and get out the paint brushes of adjectives and color your world with beautiful descriptions. Reflect on the qualities that describe the Divine. And let’s not forget about the sense of smell. Reflect on the kinds of smells you love. Describe them. What does heaven smell like? Try to use adjectives in every sentence you say today—try and use all the senses too. Even if it sounds outrageous and silly—have fun and play with adjectives.

Take two minutes and write down everything you can think of that you can do with your hands—everything–good or bad, just write for two minutes everything you can think of that you can do with your hands. When you’re finished, look at what you wrote. Which items are “helpful?” Which items are “harmful?” Are some items violent? Are some gentle? Are some creative? Are some destructive? Recall after a few moments that your assignment was to write things you can do with your hands. Reflect on the power of your hands to do both helpful and unhelpful things.

Verbs are the doing words in our language. Without them all of our nouns wouldn’t even exist, because existing is doing something. Being and doing are one in the same. You aren’t just a person; you are an ever-changing being. In addition, verbs are the only words in our language that have the magical ability to travel in time. They have tenses–past, future, present. Think about that for a few moments. You’ve always wanted to be a time-traveler, haven’t you? Verbs give you that chance.

Reflect on what you do today. And not just with your hands, but with your feet, your eyes, your ears, your mouth. Where do you direct your feet to carry you? Are you conscious of going to the computer again and again to check the news? Are you conscious of you moving towards that ice-cream or that salad? What do your eyes gravitate towards? Are you always looking for faults? Are you lusting? Are you looking for the good in others? Do you notice the color of the sky? What do you listen for? Gossip? Bad news? Shocking news? Good news? Do you listen to positive, uplifting music or head-banging heavy metal? What words do you speak? Are they helpful, kind, hurtful, sarcastic, or charitable?

Reflect on the things God does in your life and in the universe. Reflect on the things the various religious texts of the world say that the Divine does. Reflect on what you do and what you dream of doing. Make any changes that need be made, because if you do this honestly, you will find new things you need to be doing, and old things that you need to stop doing.

What follows is a two part series on a few of the main parts of speech.

“Arg…Why?” You might be groaning. “This isn’t school!”

Sure it is, and besides, I am a teacher by trade. But don’t worry. We will be looking into the interesting spiritual aspects of nouns, verbs, and so on.

There are spiritual sides to these? Of course there are. There are spiritual sides to everything. And how we speak is important to how we live. Thoughts are things, and both our thoughts and words have creative powers. A little more consciousness into such matters is always helpful.

In this entry we will cover nouns. Next week we will look at verbs. And then, over the next six weeks we will also cover adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and prepositions. Enjoy.

Nouns

Nouns are the naming words in our language. They name everything from objects like chairs to emotional qualities like love. Everything, and I mean everything, has a name. In Genesis, pretty much the first thing God gives Adam to do is to name the animals. And so for hours he sits there watching the parade of creatures passing before him, and he names them, each and every one. I can’t help but think that he knew their names because they were somehow part of him, but that’s another entry.

As babies, one of the first things we do is go around namingeverything “da,”—but we were naming nonetheless.

Why are names important? Emmet Fox says names, especially in sacred texts, hold the quality of the thing named. God, for example, is called Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, etc. in the book of Isaiah. In the thirteenth century, the original word for name, meant: one’s reputation (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php).

What do you call things? What do you call your loved ones? Do you use terms of endearment? Do you “call people names,” in the negative sense? What names do you like for God? What name have you secretly wished you had for yourself?

Today, try and become conscious of the names you give things and of the names of things around you. Explore and play with giving things new names. Notice if there’s any resistance to the new names. Look through various religious texts and find all of the ways God is referred to. Notice how the people around you use—or don’t use names. Try and call everyone you know today by their name—savor the words of their names like the gifts that they are. Ask someone you don’t know what their name is. If it’s a foreign name, be sure to ask them what it means. Reflect on whether the name of someone or something fits. Finally, give a name to your dream; your most secret desire, and treasure that. Repeat it over and over again with love and devotion, and then watch it manifest before you.